


Dart through the Heart

by paranoids



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, mike can't throw a dart to save his life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 19:57:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14456628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoids/pseuds/paranoids
Summary: Tumblr's Stories From Summer Collection - Chapter 12. Prompt: At the Carnival.Mike is determined to win Eleven a stuffed bear.





	Dart through the Heart

“It’s like a cloud,” Eleven muttered in awe.

She held the pink pure fluff just in front of her face, inspecting it thoroughly. 

She pet it with her finger, feeling the soft but slightly granular constituency of the dessert before her. 

Mike and El had set off on their own when Eleven saw the cotton candy and practically yanked Mike away from the rest of the group to see what it was. 

Mike watched her in amusement.

“Like this, see?” He bent his head down and chomped off the top of the cotton candy like a giraffe. El giggled. 

“Now you go,” Mike said, swallowing. 

She looked over at him and gingerly took a bite. As the sugar dissolved in her mouth, her eyes grew wider and wider in amazement. 

El’s gleeful smile triggered a smile’s formation on Mike’s own lips, and the two of them smiled at each other, the epitome of pure and simple happiness, only enhanced by the sweetness of the edible fluff.

It had been a good day.

It pretty much always was when the carnival came to town, but now that he had El to share it with, it felt complete. 

The party had ridden the rocky, portable carousel, Dustin ate a fried doughnut and then proceeded to go on the tilt-a-whirl and still somehow managed to resist the nausea, and they watched a man eat fire. 

Mike hadn’t once let go of El’s hand. 

Now, the two slowly made their way back to the bikes to re-convene with their friends. 

It was perfect. 

Well, near-perfect. 

He couldn’t help but feel like there was something absent, one last staple of the carnival that they were going to leave and miss. And as they passed by booths of bowling pins and plastic ducks swimming in a plastic pool with plastic rings to throw around them, he realized what it was. 

Of course! It was so obvious. 

He hadn’t won El anything.

“Mike?” El asked as he stopped short in front of one of the game booths. This one in particular had balloons and darts. The balloons got smaller and farther apart the higher up they were on the wall of cork at the back of the booth.

Those were worth the most, and one of the available prizes for popping one was a well-sized stuffed bear. 

El’s eyes had shifted to look at it, and Mike knew immediately it was the one he had to win.

He just had to pop one balloon. How hard could that be? 

“What do we do here?”

“We play a game, and win a prize.” 

El stared. “Do you want me to win something for you?” she asked casually.

“No, I’m going to play, and win something for you.”

He pulled out a dollar bill, of which he had exactly five. Each dollar was worth one throw of the dart. 

“We’d like to play,” Mike directed his attention back to the game.

The man working the booth was slow and inattentive. He regarded El and Mike for a long moment, before lethargically exchanging the dollar bill for a dart, which he instinctively handed over to Eleven.

Mike sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“No, me. I’m playing.” He was slightly prideful about it; maybe it was because it had to do with games, the one thing he had mastered. Normally, Mike wasn’t one to subscribe to societal norms, but on that particular day, he felt pulled to the booth by some powerful force beyond his understanding.

The man watched him for a moment, perhaps expecting Mike to burst out “just kidding!”, as if his lanky arms immediately gave away his utter lack of strength, agility, and aim. 

But Mike didn’t, and so the game-booth operator tentatively handed him the dart. He stepped behind the border of tape indicating where to stand. 

The first throw was instantaneous. He didn’t take a deep breath to concentrate or take any time to aim, really, at all, but instead jerked forward with his whole body, releasing the dart into the air and watching it fall to the floor without reaching the wall at all. 

El stared at the wall where the dart was supposed to be, and then back at Mike, expressionless. 

Mike took a deep breath. OK. Fine. First time is always the hardest. He fished for another dollar out of his front pocket and waved it slightly. “I’ll try again.” 

El looked wary as Mike stepped back behind the tape with another dart. This time, he would get it. 

The dart ended up somewhere on the floor again. 

“Crap!” 

Not only was he wasting dollars, but he was totally embarrassing himself in front of El, who just looked confused and a little concerned. 

As he fished for a third dollar, El called out cautiously, “Mike - ”

Credit had to be given for his optimism. “It’s ok, El. Third time is the charm!” 

The third time was not the charm. Neither was the fourth. And while the fourth dart managed to actually stick to the wall, it had not ended up in any balloon.

Mike was slightly dejected.

He only had a dollar left, and the odds weren’t exactly in his favor. El didn’t have any more money with her, had she had any, she would’ve already thrown it down on the table by now, insisting he didn’t give up all of his money in this strange game he insisted on playing.

He looked back over his shoulder at El. His eyes followed the strands of her curly hair from the crown of her head to her shoulders, the front strands pinned back with barettes. So different from the bald girl he had met in the woods when he was 12. But just as beautiful.

He couldn’t have known then, but he could feel it. And as more time passed, the more he could understand it. 

He loved her.

And damn it, he was going to get her a stuffed bear. 

He had to. 

It was his last dollar and his last shot. 

“One more time.” The worker didn’t seem to really care that this boy was throwing away his money in embarrassing ways, and instead readily, though sluggishly, gave him another dart. 

Mike turned back around and faced down the balloons with a fighter’s determination. 

He was going to pop one of them. It was just like him and El: destiny. 

With a deep breath, he wound back his hand and jerked it forward, sending the dart whizzing through the air. 

Mike shut his eyes in anticipation and waited for a sound. 

Pop.

His eyes flashed open and he glanced up and saw it, his dart perfectly centered in the remnants of a popped balloon. 

A grin spread across his face. He stared in awe up at the demolished balloon, not able to see El behind him, quickly wiping the blood from her nose with the back of her hand. 

“Alright kid. Here you go.” 

The game booth operator did not seem as impressed as Mike felt, his chest swelling with pride. 

Mike turned around and faced El with a gleeful grin, which El returned with a smile, soft and small.

“This is for you,” he said, handing over the rough-surfaced and cross-eyed bear triumphantly. 

She accepted it warmly, and pressed it close to her chest, as if trying to hug it to her heart. 

She reached for his hand and held it. Hands clasped, the two began the stroll back to their bikes. 

“I still can’t believe I did it,” Mike mused, believing that the stars had aligned for him and El, that fate had written him winning that bear.

El smiled to herself. A warmth had spread across her and she felt it in every inch of her body, from the tip of her fingers to the heels of her feet. Even her face was flushed. She felt it despite the fact he had the poorest aim and the weakest arms of anyone she knew, despite the fact that he hadn’t really won her the bear. 

She loved that boy.


End file.
